Edit button is greyed when opening an .mdb or xls file

[Schockweiler Rol]

one of my customers created a Access database with some
contacts and adresses. Using this DB, he configured the
mail merge and everything is working fine. However, he
wanted to make modifications to the Access db using the
function "Mail Merge Recipients" - Edit, but the function
is greyed out? We tried the same procedure using an Excel
sheet, same behavior. Finally, we used the possibility to
enter data from inside of Word by creating an mdb file
and, we get the possibility to edit the data fields? Is
this a normal behavior? If yes, why? If not, is there a
workaround? Thx for your help.

 

[Doug Robbins]

The best place to manipulate (including edit) data is in the database.

--
Please respond to the Newsgroup for the benefit of others who may be
interested. Questions sent directly to me will only be answered on a paid
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Hope this helps,
Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi Schockweiler,

Yes, this is expected behavior. The "Edit" button in Word
2002/2003 (I'm assuming we're discussing this version) only
works with Access database created using Word's built-in
features. And if one does use these features to create a
database, if it's once been opened directly in Access the
buttons will no longer work.

one of my customers created a Access database with some
contacts and adresses. Using this DB, he configured the
mail merge and everything is working fine. However, he
wanted to make modifications to the Access db using the
function "Mail Merge Recipients" - Edit, but the function
is greyed out? We tried the same procedure using an Excel
sheet, same behavior. Finally, we used the possibility to
enter data from inside of Word by creating an mdb file
and, we get the possibility to edit the data fields? Is
this a normal behavior? If yes, why?

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun
8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

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